Blogging New York...Day Four...

Today started with rock and roll, had a lot of mellow thrown in the middle and finished with a kick - a spicy Thai kick that is.

I knew I needed to take it easy today. The blisters on my feet told me so. I hadn't really anticipated blisters, but thankfully my hotel is right around the corner from a convenience store and they had some lovely bandages for me. Ahhh...

Now, back to today's adventures...

Yes, it's cliché, but I went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch today. I love the Hard Rock Cafe, and I'd been to the original New York one the only other day I was ever here - like 2002 maybe? Anyway, that one's gone and now there's a swanky new gigantic one in Times Square. Yes. I'm a tourist. Sue me. I love the Hard Rock because you never know what sort of tunes you're going to hear in there. Usually there are some I love, some I loathe and some that just make me laugh. Today I almost laughed out loud at my table when Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth came on. That was 100 kinds of awesome! And since you weren't there to enjoy it with me, I found the video on YouTube. You're welcome.

I toured around and saw some memorabilia, and that's always cool even if it's from people you don't like. It's even cooler when it's from someone you do like. It still doesn't compare to the first time I went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Vegas where I was blessed by the presence of Ice T and his cool blue eyes. That will always be my favorite Hard Rock experience. But, the food was good, and it was a good start to my rock and roll day.

From there, I walked two blocks to the St. James Theatre for the American Idiot show. For those of you that read this blog or know me at all, you know I saw the show in Berkeley when it premiered. It was extra fun to see it again on Broadway. It was just as good and even had a surprise at the end that wasn't there in Berkeley. Some of the staging was different, and there was even a tiny change in one of the songs, but it worked. And I loved it!

I don't think I need to tell you that there was some entertainment for me while waiting for the show to start. A couple of girls were sitting in the row behind me, and when I glanced, I guessed they were in the tween age group. Here's just a sample of what I heard:

"John Gallagher, Jr - I love you. Tony Vincent - I love you."

"Yeah, I wrote on Tony Vincent's wall...I'm not allowed to talk to him because she's in love with him and I can't talk to him...he gets up and drinks wine every morning. Yeah, he drinks a lot of wine...oh, I'm going to talk to him..."

"How much are those seats? Like a million dollars? I'd work my whole life if I could have those seats."

"If I made $1000 a month, I'd come to this every night."

I almost laughed out loud at that, as did the guy next to me who was there with his family. We laughed about the tweens and were equally amused by the pre-show entertainment. I learned he and his family were in from Los Angeles and are also going to the Yankee game tomorrow. Small world. 

Upon exiting the theatre, there was this great wall you could write on, and thousands before had done so, but I found a couple of blank spots and made myself known.

 

It was kinda fun to wait around for some of the cast after the show. Not everyone came out, but a few did and I got a few good pics...enjoy... 

As I wandered to the subway, I actually thought about going to see Twilight, but decided it might be a little lame since I could easily see that at home. So, I came back and kicked up my feet and perused the Internet and watched TV. Yeah. All things I could do at home too. Whatever.

I thought about going to dinner when I was reminded that anything and everything could be delivered to me in New York. This made my day since I can't get anything but pizza delivered at home. There were so many choices that I almost gave up, but finally settled on Thai. You can't go wrong with Thai. Ever. But then came the first big FAIL of my trip. I transposed the hotel's address and didn't realize it until the delivery guy called and I wasn't where he was. He didn't speak English, and try as I might, I couldn't get him to understand where I was, so I called the delivery company and they were nice enough to call the restaurant and send the driver to the right place. I felt like an idiot - an American Idiot? - but the company was very nice and about 20 minutes later, my delivery arrived. As you can see, I ordered way too much food, and there's no way I'm eating it all, but it was totally worth the wait. Now I'm just cranky that I can't order Thai anytime I want in San Jose. Lame. 

Finally, I'll leave you with two observations from my TV viewing this evening...

1 - As much as I love bacon, and cheese, this is just not appetizing.

2 - How could the original Ice Age be so good and the second (and wasn't there even a third?) be so bad? 

Blogging New York...Day Three...

First of all, let me assure you that my stealth mode still works in New York. I thought maybe that was just a California thing but no. People don't see me here either. Yeah. It's cool.

After getting home last night I ended up staying awake until somewhere around 2am - ugh, but only 11pm Cali time, so not horrible. What was horrible was waking up at 6am - yeah, that's 3am in California. That was not yay. And I was wide awake. So, I played online for a while, watched some TV and then fell back asleep around 8 for a couple of hours. I find nothing wrong with the morning nap.

Once I rolled out of bed for good, I hopped on the subway, you know, because I'm the master of it, and went uptown to Lincoln Center to meet my friend Mary at her office in The Sesame Workshop. No tour of the studio since that's elsewhere in town, but it's always fun to see where friends work. And I got a cool free t-shirt! Woo-hoo!!

Mary and I took a cab to the Shake Shack near Central Park and had a tasty lunch, peppered with entertainment. I'm not a wine drinker, but even I found it a little strange that this place that serves burger and fries and shakes also serves wine. We were talking about it in line and being a bit snarky - I know you find that hard to believe, and Mary even asked the guy taking our order if people actually order it because we didn't get it. He said a lot of people order it, and I believe there was another snarky comment made, as we both rolled our eyes. We stepped away and someone right behind us ordered half a bottle of white wine and we almost fell over. We then saw said wine in tiny little plastic wine cups. They were, well, they were something...

The place was packed so we joined a couple of others at a larger table - very New York I'm told, and enjoyed a tasty feast of burgers and fries. It was really rather tasty. Across the street they were filming an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and we popped over when we finished eating and took a couple of snaps of Larry David. I've never watched the show, but still, kinda cool.

From there we wandered toward Central Park and then parted ways, as unfortunately, she had to return to work. I spent an hour or so just wandering through the park, and while I certainly didn't see all of it, it was really fun to just wander around, sit on a few benches and watch New Yorkers in motion. I have to say, there are more benches in that park than in every other park I've ever seen. Combined.

I ended up on 5th Avenue on the other side of the park and began walking back from whence I came earlier in the morning. I came upon the very cool Apple sign in the glass building, F.A.O. Schwartz and the big piano - which I was highly annoyed by due to the 457 kids and parents playing on it causing all sorts of ruckus. I also have to say, the bathroom in F.A.O Schwartz was seriously nasty. I was less than impressed. The toys though, were very cool. And yes, I'm twelve. Maybe eight. That's the only place I went into on 5th Avenue - believe it!

I made my way to the subway and came back to the hotel and crashed for a while before embarking on my evening at the theatre. And yeah, I spelled it "re" not "er". Deal with it. On my way to the theatre from the subway, I walked by a couple of folks selling the Obama Condom. I did not stop to find out what that scary thing might be. Let me just say, yikes.

Finally I made it to The Cort Theatre where I waited in line with everyone else for about 15 minutes before the doors opened. My first Broadway experience was good and annoying. The play, Fences, was fan-freaking-tastic!! Goodness. I really didn't know what it was about, but it was so good. Denzel Washington has always been one of my favorite actors, and he proved to me why. He was just great. And Viola Davis? Please. The woman is just awesome! All the actors were amazing. I laughed and I cried, and just loved it.

What I didn't love were the staff members I came in contact with at the theatre. Can you say rude? Man. We know you have rules, we get it, but come on. You don't have to yell at people or have a tone. There was a lot of tone!! And as we were exiting, they were basically pushing us out of the building, and as I was about to step through the door, the snippy woman outside literally closed it in my face. She almost got a slap, but I was too high from the experience of the play to actually take her on. Seriously though. RUDE!!

I debated taking the subway home, but thought better of it. Then I was going to take a cab, but it seemed involved so I started to walk. And it was much cooler than it had been during the day, so I figured I'd just head down the road and grab one somewhere between 48th and 29th. But after a while, I decided it was silly to get a cab so I kept walking. And walking. But several blisters later, I made it in and soaked my tootsies in a nice tub of foot scrub I'd procured from Lush on Sunday. 

All in all, another great day here in the city that never sleeps. Tomorrow? American Idiot.

American Idiot

Last weekend my friend Jill and I went to see the new musical, American Idiot, based on the Green Day album of the same name. It's currently premiering in Berkeley, and I am thrilled we were able to get tickets during its short run there. It was AWESOME!!

Check out the trailer HERE.

I loved the album the first time I heard it, and now can't stop listening to it the second time around. When the album came out several years ago, I was intrigued by the story woven through the songs and how it made the most sense when it was listened to from start to finish, in the order Green Day wanted us to hear it. On their own, the songs are great. When they're put together in the right order, they can simultaneously excite me and bring me to tears. Seeing them attached to an actual storyline made them even more powerful. I cried three times during the performance.

The lyrics of so many of these songs are incredibly powerful, as the lyrics to many of the band's songs are. Here's a quick sample:

American Idiot - Chorus

Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alien nation
Where everything isn't meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We're not the ones who're meant to follow
But that's enough to argue

Are We The Waiting - Second Verse and Chorus

Forget me nots and second thoughts live in isolation
Heads or tails and fairytales in my mind
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting unknown
The rage and love, the story of my life
The Jesus of suburbia is a lie

And screaming
Are we we are, are we we are the waiting

21 Guns - First Verse

Do you know what's worth fighting for
When it's not worth dying for
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating
Does the pain weigh out the pride
And you look for a place to hide
Did someone break your heart inside
You're in ruins

It was sort of funny to see the crowd at the theater, especially since we just recently saw Green Day in concert (video below from our concert - click the link to see photos).



I would venture a guess that at least 75% of those in attendance last Saturday had never seen Green Day in concert and likely didn't own a single Green Day CD. Jill and I were among the youngest in attendance, and we figured most of the folks there were there for the theatrics of it all. It was quite interesting to observe. They actually handed out earplugs as we made our way to our seats - we passed.

I really hope this makes it to Broadway. It's been selling out pretty much every show in Berkeley, and it would be so great if more people could experience it. If you have the chance, SEE THIS SHOW!!

As a side note to our Berkeley adventure, we found a YUMMY Louisiana restaurant - Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen. I highly recommend it! Authentic hush puppies, po' boys and beignets. Not to mention good service! Check it out.

All in all, a fabulous day in Berkeley! Now the journey to and from on BART? Well, that's always an adventure unto itself...